1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the general field of medical devices and methods for thermal treatment of, e.g., cooling and heating, injured body parts to, e.g., alleviate pain and inflammation. In particular, it relates to a novel method of using an improved cover for contrasting thermal treatments for therapeutic purposes, i.e., alternating cooling and heating applications, wherein the non-constrictive cover allows quick and easy alternating insertions of separate heating and cooling elements. It relates to a method of using thermal devices, e.g., a flexible cover optionally having an adhesive area or areas which can accept safety pins and which can be applied to an injured body part, either directly or indirectly by attachment to clothing, and a method of providing a thermal device comprising said cover that can be used to apply heat to an injured body part with improved comfort, convenience, and availability.
2. Description of the Related Art
The desirability of using ice bags and heating pads for thermal therapy is well accepted. It has long been an accepted medical practice to apply a cooling element to the surface of a body in the vicinity of an injury to, e.g., reduce swelling. Ice bags enable the user to apply cold to an injury such as a bruise or sprain without unacceptable mess. On the other hand, applying a heating element, such as a “heat pack”, at the appropriate time can also improve the healing process.
A common ice bag that is commercially available is the reusable type comprising a water-impermeable, commonly a rubber-lined, flexible bag having a tubular rigid neck and a removable cap. To use, the bag is filled with ice cubes or ice chips and closed with the cap, then the bag is applied to the bruised area of the body and held it in place by hand. Another type of cold pack that is commercially available is a refrigeratable gel cold pack which comprises a refrigerant or coolant gel material contained in a plastic housing which can be either flexible or relatively inflexible. The gel packs are stored in a freezer for chilling or cooling and are then ready for use. Also commercially available is a chemical pack which comprises two or more pouches for separately storing chemical reactants which can be mixed to produce an endothermic cooling mixture. A common home-use ice bag can be made using a commercially available reclosable plastic sandwich or freezer bag with a zipper seal, such as a Ziploc™ plastic bag filled with ice (Ziploc is a registered trademark of Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.). By “reclosable” it is meant that the bag can be open and closed numerous times.
Similarly, a common hot pack that is commercially available is a gel hot pack which comprises a gel material contained in a flexible plastic housing. The gel packs are heated, e.g., in a microwave oven to a desired temperature and are then ready for use. Also commercially available is a chemical hot pack which comprises two or more pouches for separately storing chemical reactants which can be mixed to produce an exothermic heating mixture. Other hot packs comprise an oxygen activated, heat generating chemical composition contained in a housing that allows air to permeate when heat is needed. A versatile thermal gel pack that is commercially available can serve both as a cooling bag and a heating bag when it is cooled in a household freezer and is heated in a microwave oven, respectively.
One of the disadvantages of many thermal bags is that they need to be inconveniently held by hand to maintain contact with the injured body part. To overcome this inconvenience, several types of thermal bag devices comprising a holder for these bags have been disclosed. Some ice bag devices can be strapped around a body part, with, e.g., loop and hook mating Velcro™-type fastening straps. A cold pack is disclosed having extended perimeter with adhesive means to attach said thermal pack to a skin surface. Yet other means to keep the ice bags in the proximity of the injured body part are also disclosed, such as a jacket with a plurality of attached pockets to hold the thermal packs. These and other ice bag devices are described in detailed in the BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION section of U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/455,885, 10/455,886, and 10/455,888, all filed Jun. 6, 2003. These ice bag devices are usually of complicated design, large and bulky in size and/or expensive to produce and/or difficult to be washed for reuse.
Thermal pack devices that support hot packs or both hot and cold packed are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,035 issued Aug. 19, 1976 to Welch et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,566 issued Jul. 9, 1985 to Abare; U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,247 issued Jun. 30, 1987 to Van Cleve; U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,176 issued Mar. 19, 1991 to Daniel; U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,144 issued Feb. 25, 1997 to Simmons et al.,; U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,220 issued Apr. 21, 1998 to Brink; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,514,279 B1 issued Feb. 4, 2003 to Lavin, Jr. These thermal pack devices are usually of complicated design, large and bulky in size and/or expensive to produce and/or difficult to be washed for reuse.
Recent medical practices call for alternating hot and cold therapy, in which alternating hot and cold packs are applied to the proximity of the injured area, to relieve many symptoms, such as arthritis, osteoarthritis, sciatica, chronic bacterial prostatitis, and back problems and injuries. This contrasting treatment calls for, e.g., a heat application for about 5 to about 20 minutes which is immediately followed by a cold application for about 5 to about 20 minutes, and the cycle is repeated several times daily. The thermal pack devices of the prior art do not provide a quick and easy change over from hot to cold and back to hot again. Furthermore, said devices are usually of complicated design, large and bulky in size and/or expensive to produce and/or difficult to be washed for reuse.
Thus, there is a need for a quick and facile method to provide the alternating hot and cold applications wherein the hot and cold packs can be interchanged rapidly and easily, especially without changing the position of the device, and the thermal pack device can be applied to the injured area without being held by hand. Preferably such thermal pack device is compact and not bulky, so that preferably it can fit in a first-aid box along with other first-aid items. Preferably such thermal pack device is easily manufactured and used.